Thursday, January 30, 2020

Occupy Wall Street, Pros and Cons Essay Example for Free

Occupy Wall Street, Pros and Cons Essay In the past year, there has been a movement that has grown out of the frustration over the unemployed masses across the nation. The movement was mostly aimed at Big Banks and the wealthiest 1% who hold a significant percent of the money in this country. The movement, in its beginnings, was meant to protest the declining middle class and rapid expanding lower class. It also contended that the upper class was not paying their share of taxes. Pro side of the Movement: The OWS movement brought to the forefront the belief that the rich were paying a much lower percentage of taxes then there middle and lower class counterparts. It demanded that the rich pay more taxes and regulate the flow of money to big banks and bank bailouts. Much like the Tea Party movement, they demanded an end to the TARP bailouts and end to federal bailouts of a corrupted Federal Reserve. The movements motto, Ã¢â¬Å"Companies are bad, Capitalism is inherently evilÃ¢â¬ , also shows the movements opposition to big corporations making lots of money and not sharing it with their employees. It has gathered a lot of support from among the ultra liberal population and shown that there are a good number of people who support this cause. Among the supporters have been many celebs, politicians and even labor unions. The fact that banks raked in record profits before the housing crash, and unfairly foreclosed millions of loans on middle class and poor people, then received federal bailouts to save them infuriated many people. The single largest cost to the American taxpayer of all time, more than all the previous national debt combined since the nationÃ¢â¬â¢s birth in 1776, the banks received not billions, but trillions in this TARP bailout. It was from this 2 movements were born. Tea Party and OWS both owe their origins to this single event. OWS is the Liberal side vs. the Conservative Tea Party. Anti Occupy Wall Street: In the beginning of the movement, there wasnÃ¢â¬â¢t a lot of opposition to their ideas across the board. They had a solid idea and cause. They stood for the middle and lower class citizens with a message the 99% of the population was tired of being walked on by the rich. However, this image quickly tarnished. The movement became a collection of people who basically looked like a homeless camp of vagrants of people who felt they were Ã¢â¬Å"entitledÃ¢â¬  to a comfortable life and not having to work for it. Almost every face in the crowd was people that were basically unemployable because they had excessive tattoos, bad hygiene or very bad attitudes vs. everything! Mixed In with their protests were political groups joining the band wagon, such as Communist, Marxist, Nazi and Anarchist? There signs often portrayed violence to rich people and corporations. They would cry out, Ã¢â¬Å"We are the 99%Ã¢â¬  the whole time the real 99% of the population was becoming disgusted with these people. The movement is dying and basically dead because the people who organized these camps did not police themselves or distance themselves from the people who tarnished the initial message of the movement. Instead of a message being sent to the rich, they made themselves and embarrassment to their cause. Can Occupy Wall Street be fixed? : Is it too late to undo the damage the bad elements of the protest? I think it is. They had/have no clear message anymore. They complain about everything and everyone. All rich people are evil, our capitalistic government is evil and Corporations are Evil? This is their claim. However, do these people stop to think (as they use there iPhones, sipping Starbucks coffee and wearing designer clothes) that they are hypocrites? That if not for all they stand against, America would be nothing more than a 3rd world country? Do the people who support socialism and communism not realize they have been tried and failed time and time again? Socialism is a great government till you run out of others peopleÃ¢â¬â¢s money! Rich people provide a vast majority of the jobs in this country. There is also the fact, that in America, everyone has the potential to become rich. There are more millionaires in America, than the whole world combined. There are many things in their message that is simply not thought out. The movement needs to single out the wrong doers such as BofA and the people who caused the housing crash. They need to support intelligent people who can spread a positive message for them. Not be a huge un-washed mass of entitled hippies looking for a handout. My Opinion: I think the movement is dead. It was dead after the first week. It needs to go away and reboot. It needs a new plan, new people and leadership. It needs a voice! It has been marred by violence and shame. I hate that these people say they represent me. I represent the hard working people of this country that believes in the American Dream. These entitled ingrates need to stop wondering why they canÃ¢â¬â¢t get a job while there getting there face pierced or a new tattoo. I want to be rich one day, and I donÃ¢â¬â¢t want to have to pay 70% of my income to pay for people who wonÃ¢â¬â¢t get off their butts and get a job. I believe if you work hard, you should be rewarded for it, not punished!